Some farm groups oppose the legislation
Ottawa-The Senate has given final approval to a bill, previously passed by the Commons, to protect supply management in any future trade negotiations.
While last year’s version of the supply management bill was studied extensively in the Senate, this time it was approved quickly because “the new Commons has made its will crystal clear,” said Alberta Senator Paula Simons.
Several senators opposed the bill, introduced by the Bloc Quebecois, but did not try to delay its passage and it only requires the formality of being signed by Gov.-Gen. May Simon to become law.
Simons objected to the bill in the previous Parliament, when she was the deputy chair of the Senate agriculture committee. This time she supported it because of President Trump’s “mixture of malice and caprice, with tariffs coming and going and changing with every whim and perceived slight.”
While passing the bill will be a provocative move, “he is so easily provoked - sometimes by the most imaginary of causes - that tiptoeing around him seems futile.” Canada should protect its farmer in whatever ways it can in trade negotiations, she said.
While last year’s version of the supply management bill was studied extensively in the Senate, this time it was approved quickly because “the new Commons has made its will crystal clear.”
The bill will be a challenge for Canadian trade negotiators in any future talks and “undercut Canada’s position as an international champion of free trade around the world and undermine our ability to fight protectionist policies that discriminate against us.”
At the same time, Canada must be concerned with the U.S.’s relaxation of its rules around food inspection and public health which can be seen in how avian influenza “has jumped the species barrier to infect the American dairy herd all across that country,” Simons said.
In the wake of the BSE crisis, Canada banned the practice of feeding animal products to cows. But in the U.S. States, it is now “common practice to feed used poultry litter to cattle as a cheap source of protein and nitrogen - a possible reason American dairy cows are falling ill with a disease that wasn’t supposed to infect them and, thankfully, has not reached our dairy herd.”
Dozens of U.S. of farm workers have also fallen ill with H5N1 bird flu, she said. “If we can no longer trust American food exports to be safe, the government has a greater responsibility than ever to protect Canadian consumers from food-borne diseases.”
The Canadian Agri-Food Trade Alliance, the Canadian Cattle Association, Beef Farmers of Ontario, Canadian Canola Growers Association, Canadian Oilseed Processors Association, Canadian Pork Council, Canadian Sugar Institute, Canola Council of Canada, Cereals Canada, CropLife Canada, Fertilizer Canada, Grain Farmers of Ontario, Grain Growers of Canada, National Cattle Feeders’ Association, Ontario Bean Growers, Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers and a wide host of other farm groups publicly opposed passage of the bill.
This news item prepared for National Newswatch